Auburn, Chizik not panicking over offensive struggles

Gene ChizikAuburn coach Gene Chizik says he's not "panicking by any stretch of the imagination" over the struggles of the offense.

He said during his Tuesday's press conference that mistakes have slowed Auburn during its three-game losing streak.

"What seemingly would be little things are big things,'' he said during his Tuesday press conference. "We've got to get better at what we do.

"We've got to get some little details ironed out. The level of competition is going up. We've got to get better too."

Other notes from the press conference as Auburn prepares for Saturday's game against Ole Miss:

**Chizik said Auburn's mental state is good.

"They're great,'' he said. "They really want to be a good football team. I'm really proud of the seniors, even though there are just a few."

**On the play of defensive end Antoine Carter, who has started the last two games as he comes back from a knee injury:

"He did some really nice things. It's good to see him back to being close to where he was in the spring before the injury took place. We need him."

**On Kodi Burns, who had two teeth knocked out at LSU:

"Kodi is great,'' Chizik said. "He gets two teeth knocked out and is carrying them off the teeth. He kept plugging away. I'm very proud of him. He's a special guy."

**On not practicing Sunday:

"Let's take more time on the film. Let's go over in more detail...why we were good at times, why we were bad at times. I thought the timing was good."

**On Auburn having little depth and being tired:

"I'm not going to make that as any type of excuse. We've got to execute better to win."

**On comparing last year's struggles to this season, and whether there's finger-pointing this season:

"There is absolutely zero of that going on. None."

**On some questioning Chris Todd's play:

"I don't think in Chris' case he pays a whole lot of attention to it.Chris Todd is the quarterback, but when it's third down and he's got five guys in his lap, that's not Chris Todd." Meaning, it's not always Chris Todd's fault.

"Quarterback has to be a tough-minded position. It all comes with the territory."

And, Chizik added with a smile, "It's no difference than coaching, right?"